The Easter Bunny in Whoville?

So another Easter is here.

I've grown cynical about these holidays especially their commercialization. Even if they weren't commercial I'm not a religious sort so it still would't mean anything.

Our tribe had their Easter get together yesterday. I went with my wife and kids. I didn't want to go initially but did so because "it's for the kids." What exactly is it about it that is for the kids anyway I thought? Easter Bunny, Easter egg hunt, chocolate eggs, candy, bought stuff.

The fallacy of the holiday became apparent with our second oldest who accompanied us. He's thirteen and has grown out of the Easter Bunny stage. He was asked if he wanted to join the Easter Egg hunt and he didn't want to. While he never said why I could tell he just doesn't believe in it anymore. He's understands that the Easter Bunny is as phoney a figure as Santa Clause, Halloween and the like.

Society trots kids along with holidays only to see the bubble burst. In the meantime we've been suckered into spending who knows how much money (that we barely have to begin with) on stuff all while having them believe that a rabbit left it for them, or Santa Clause, or whatever. There’s something demeaning and infuriating about that all at once.

I choose to take the same view of this that I do about Christmas: it may not be a First Nations holiday but I salvage some value out of it by treating it as an opportunity to spend with friends and family.

There's an important distinction to be made here: just because I disagree with the commercialization of holidays doesn’t mean I ride the same boat as the religious zealots who argue the same. Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny aren’t the only figures I don’t believe in anymore, and my disbelief isn’t a call to be saved. Instead, I choose to treat this holiday as an opportunity to share a visit, enjoy a good meal that isn’t otherwise cooked, and enjoy each others company.

We're having Easter dinner together tonight as a family along with my mother, sister, brother maybe, and some family from out of town. That has infinitely more intrinsic value to me than some rabbit leaving chocolate eggs around, or painting your own eggs that end up looking suspiciously like the ones the Easter Bunny supposedly leaves around.

Rememeber the scene at the end of the movie The Grinch Who Stole Christmas? How even though the Grinch stole all the Whoville's residents presents they still celebrated Christmas upon awakening? The absence of presents didn't have anything to do with how the holiday was valued and celebrated. I may not believe in Santa Clause or the Easter Bunny but I understand this parable.

It seems the only holiday that isn't commercialized is Rememberance Day and we should thank our personal Gods for that.